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The Safety-Aware Denoiser for Text Diffusion Models

Summary

This paper proposes the Safety-Aware Denoiser (SAD), an inference-time framework for integrating safety constraints into text diffusion models. SAD modifies the iterative denoising process to steer final text samples toward provably safe regions, avoiding costly retraining. Experiments show SAD substantially reduces unsafe generations while preserving quality, diversity, and fluency, outperforming existing methods.

SourcearXiv Machine LearningAuthor: Amman Yusuf, Zhejun Jiang, Mijung Park
The Safety-Aware Denoiser for Text Diffusion Models
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[2605.08116] The Safety-Aware Denoiser for Text Diffusion Models

[Submitted on 28 Apr 2026]

Title:The Safety-Aware Denoiser for Text Diffusion Models

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Abstract:Recent work on text diffusion models offers a promising alternative to autoregressive generation, but controlling their safety remains underexplored. Existing safety approaches are geared toward autoregressive models and typically rely on post-hoc filtering or inference-time interventions. These are inadequate for effectively addressing safety risks in text diffusion models. We propose the Safety-Aware Denoiser (SAD), a safety-guidance framework in text diffusion models. The SAD modifies the iterative denoising process such that the text sample at the final denoising step is steered toward provably safe regions of the text space. This inference-time method can integrate safety constraints into the denoiser, avoiding computationally expensive retraining of the underlying diffusion model and enabling flexible, lightweight safety guidance. We evaluate the safety of the generated text using the SAD, with respect to hazard taxonomy, memorization, and jailbreak. Experimental results show that SAD substantially reduces unsafe generations while preserving generation quality, diversity, and fluency, outperforming existing methods. These results demonstrate that our safety guidance during denoising provides an effective and scalable mechanism for enforcing safety in text diffusion models.

Comments: 27 pages, 12 figures. Code available at: this https URL

Subjects:

Machine Learning (cs.LG); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)

Cite as: arXiv:2605.08116 [cs.LG]

(or arXiv:2605.08116v1 [cs.LG] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.08116

arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

Submission history

From: Amman Yusuf [view email] [v1] Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:44:30 UTC (1,467 KB)

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Key points and analysis

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Key points

  • SAD is a novel safety-guidance framework for text diffusion models, modifying denoising to enforce safety without retraining.
  • Evaluated on hazard taxonomy, memorization, and jailbreak, SAD significantly reduces unsafe outputs while maintaining generation quality.
  • SAD outperforms post-hoc filtering and inference-time interventions commonly used for autoregressive models.

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